


The Bitter Suite

by allmagiccomeswithrice (bisaleth)



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Episode: s01e13 The Battle of Bright Moon, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Forgiveness, Romance, based off an episode of Xena, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-27 14:58:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17768954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bisaleth/pseuds/allmagiccomeswithrice
Summary: Set during the Battle of Bright Moon.When Adora and Catra fall over a cliff and into the water, they both wake up in an unusual place where they're forced to confront the truth if they ever want to escape.





	1. Welcome Home

**Author's Note:**

> Based off the Xena: Warrior Princess episode by the same name!

Dark clouds hung low in the sky as the war was waged below, where two girls who once held so much affection for one another now fought with everything they had.

"It won't be over until I see the look on your friends' faces when they find out that you failed.  That you were too _weak_ to save them."  Perhaps then, she would feel like it wasn't just her that Adora couldn't save, that it wasn't Catra who was unworthy of saving but instead Adora who just sucked at being a savior.  She wanted it to be true.  So badly.

Adora would not have left if she'd cared about saving her, though.  Catra had to remind herself of that.

Just as Catra was winding herself up for another attack, the light that emanated from She-ra grew suddenly close and the wind was immediately knocked out of her as She-ra had gotten her strength back much faster than anticipated and tackled right into her, sending them flying across the rocks and over the cliff side.  Their yelling and fighting as the two plummeted toward the water couldn't be heard over the sound of war all around them.

* * *

 

Burning lungs and panic settled in as She-ra lost track of Catra the instant they hit the water, every part of her body stinging from the splash but most especially the still-fresh wounds on her back from when Catra had dug in her claws as deep as they'd go.  As she rapidly lost what little air she retained, everything seemed to both speed up and slow down at once, the moment before her death giving her clarity about the situation and bringing to the front of her mind nothing but the wish for things to have been different.

As her longing for a life she and her friends would now be unable to have took over her mind, the water took all else, sinking through her lungs and washing her She-ra form away to leave only Adora alone to drown.

Except, she didn't drown.  Adora felt someone yank on her shoulders and soon she was coughing up the water and gasping for air, looking blearily up to see the person who pulled her out was Bow.

But something was very different.  The storm had stopped, and even though she knew this was the same place she'd been when she fell, this couldn't be the same place.  Everything was brighter than Bright Moon should be, the colors over saturated, and the battlefield no longer held any signs of the war that had been waged only seconds ago.  No tanks, no Horde soldiers...

"Bow!  What...just happened...?

* * *

 

When Catra knew she was about to hit the water, she sucked in a deep breath and shut her eyes, pushing Adora away at the last second to avoid having to fight her under water where she'd be at a disadvantage.

However, instead of hitting the water at a dangerous velocity, her feet gently touched the cold stone ground of Hordak's throne room.


	2. Peace

"Don't worry about it."  Bow smiled, helping Adora to her feet as the other princesses gathered around her to welcome her back.

This was fantastic, everyone seemed to be fine and Bright Moon didn't seem to be in danger anymore, though Adora couldn't help but wonder how all of this had somehow happened while she was drowning.  The problem was, every time she opened her mouth, someone spoke over her to welcome her home and tell her that everything was okay now.  It was very quickly becoming the creepiest happy moment Adora had ever experienced.

Glimmer had, at some point, grabbed onto Adora's Horde jacket and removed it despite her protests, proceeding to practically smother her with a huge towel.  Just as Adora tried again to speak, Glimmer smiled brightly and began to lead her toward the castle with the others following and crowding around.  "The Evil Horde has been defeated, Adora!  I know they really left their mark on you, and it might take a while for you to get used to not fighting all the time, but you will always have somewhere safe to be, here, with us."

Adora sputtered, trying so hard to find the right words for the crazy situation.  "But- I-  I was fighting Catra and then-"

Glimmer, stars in her eyes, quickly put a finger to Adora's lips, hushing her.  "We don't need to talk about her, I know it's painful.  If Catra hadn't betrayed you and tried to kill you, you know we would've welcomed her here too, but she's just evil.  She just wants to hurt you, and it doesn't run any deeper than that."  She nodded along to herself as she spoke, almost flippant about the matter.

"How did- OW!"  Adora lurched forward and would have hit the floor if it weren't for Bow and Glimmer catching her.

"Oh, your back, Adora!!  It's just awful what she did to you.  Oh my gosh, let's get you patched up.  I can't believe she was ever your friend.  Friends don't leave scars on each other like this."

Adora felt someone's hands on her back and instantly the pain disappeared entirely.  Looking behind her didn't even help her figure out who did it, with everyone crowding her space so much.  Bow put himself in her line of sight, smiling too brightly.  "Catra always hated you, it's for the best that we're doing this, anyway!  I know it might be tough, but the best friend squad has got this!"

"Huh? What do you mean?  Doing what?"

Bow didn't wait for her to finish what she was saying to shove her sword back into her hands as they all stopped walking at the entrance of the castle.  Glimmer turned to Adora, finally a serous expression on her face.  "Listen, Adora.  A lot's happened while you were gone.  Catra has replaced Horak and she's on her way here with her new army as we speak.  She doesn't care about you anymore, she told you so herself.  The only way to stop this war is to kill her.  Then we can all finally live in peace.  No more burned down villages, no more children losing their parents to a surprise attack.  Peace.  You understand?"

This was almost worse than drowning.

Adora felt sick just thinking about it.  Catra has done awful things, and maybe she was beyond redemption, but killing her?  "We don't have to do that.  We could imprison her."

"We can't.  She'll only work to twist your mind.  You can't keep trying to change her, Adora.  She has so much hate in her heart that it's all she knows now.  Everything she does spreads misery and destruction, and you can't put her life above all these innocent people.  Look at them.  Look."  Glimmer gestured toward the town, where people went about their daily lives, unsuspecting of the danger on its way.

Taking a deep breath, Adora lifted her sword. "For..." She let go of her air, not ready yet to do this.  Catra meant so much to her.

"Catra will kill these people.  I.  I have to do something.  For...the honor of Grayskull."

Her heart wasn't in it, but the transformation took over anyway, preparing her for battle.


	3. War

War was waged once more, hopefully for the final time, in the forest.

It didn't take long for Catra to find She-ra, and this time she had the advantage, because she hung in a tree, unnoticed by the warrior below.

It happened too fast.  She-ra worked to fight off several Horde soldiers at once, but she was exhausted, and she let her sword get knocked out of her hand.  Within seconds, the sword was picked up and suddenly Catra was the only thing she could see, and pain was the only thing she could feel.  Blood dripped from her mouth as Catra pulled the sword back out of She-ra, allowing her to fall to the ground, eyes almost instantly losing their shine.

She'd done it.  She-ra was dead.  She-ra was dead!  Catra smirked in satisfaction before she suddenly began to feel sick to her stomach.  She'd killed Adora.  That was Adora.  No more Adora.

Catra stepped back in shock, dropping the bloody sword and began to shiver violently in realization of what she'd just done.  She didn't pay attention to the soldiers around her fleeing and Glimmer and Bow showing up to grieve over the dead body.

She felt...all alone.  Lost, confused.  Adora was her beloved, her friend, someone who she thought she loved, before...everything that happened.  Adora had betrayed her, abandoned her and left her to the wolves.  She did the right thing, Adora should pay for what she did, but somehow this didn't feel like a victory.  It felt like rather than liberating herself from years of being second best, this was only proving that she was just as awful.  She felt awful.

She'd let her hate and the battle take over.  There wasn't any glee.  This didn't ease her suffering, this only felt like drinking poison.  Adora was gone, and suddenly being the leader of the Horde and having Shadow Weaver locked away meant nothing.

When Catra again became aware enough of her surroundings, she found Scorpia chasing off Glimmer and Bow, all of them leaving Catra alone with She-ra's body.  There was so much blood, still leaking from her chest, and Catra had been the one to cause it.  She fell to her knees, unable to hold herself together as she began to sob.  "I.." She tried to speak, to make it real so that she'll stop feeling like she was in a dream, but her voice was raspy and labored. "I- I killed Adora..."

Catra shut her eyes hard, tears rolling down her cheeks as she worked just to breathe under the guilt and loss.  When she opened her eyes, she wasn't in the forest anymore, but She-ra's body still lay in front of her.  The space was dark and empty, like when she'd visited that First One's temple.  With Adora.  Who she'll never see again.

A light shone from the darkness, and suddenly Adora stood on the other side of She-ra's corpse, light silhouetting her shadowed form as if she were a spirit.  "Catra...?  You....killed me."  Every word that left her mouth was gentle and sad.  Disappointed.

Just like that, She-ra's body disappeared and Catra rushed to stand and wipe her tears away, getting angrier at whatever was going on by the second.  Adora took another step toward her and now she looked like herself.  Just Adora.  "You killed me."  She repeated, more visibly upset this time. "I knew you were trying before, Catra, but I never-"

"NO!"  Catra yelled, grabbing on to Adora's arms.  "No! I didn't, it w-, I.  It was all an illusion!  It, you're-  none of this is real, Scorpia and the Horde and..I didn't!  I didn't kill you, I killed an illusion!"  She tried desperately to explain herself, but it wasn't good enough, she knew.  It had clearly been an illusion, but she didn't know that at the time.  She didn't know.  She could have really killed Adora.  She thought she did.

Adora jerked herself out of Catra's grip, sniffling and rubbing her eyes.  "If that's supposed to make me feel better..!"

"No!  I.  Ugh."  Catra backed off, turning around and pacing.  "I need to think."


End file.
